Critics say judge in Stanford rape case gave lenient sentence in domestic violence case involving football player

 PALO ALTO (KRON) – Once again, Stanford rape casejudge Aaron Persky is at the center of another controversial case involving a college athlete.

Persky handed down the six-month sentence to Brock Turner, the Stanford player convicted of sexually assaulting an intoxicated woman.

And now, critics are saying a football player who pleaded guilty to domestic violence was given a lenient sentence.

Now, Persky’s critics accuse him of once again given preferential treatment to athletes, and they add it is another example of why Persky must be forced off the bench.

Critics of Judge Persky said, yet again, the Santa Clara County judge has given preferential treatment to an athlete, this time, involving a football player, No. 22 Keenan Smith, who plays for the College of San Mateo.

“Mr. Smith, in a public place, pushed his then girlfriend 10 times. According to the police report, he then grabbed her by the face and pushed her to the ground and was preparing to punch her,” Stanford law professor Michelle Dauber said.

Dauber is a Stanford law professor and activist involved in recalling Judge Persky. Persky gained international attention when he sentenced Stanford athlete Turner to a six-month sentence that amounted to three months after a jury found him guilty of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman following a frat party.

In Smith’s case, last March, Persky approved a sentencing deal of a domestic violence program and weekend work crew, while, Dauber said, allowing him to serve his sentence while working around his football schedule.

“I think that’s sending the message that football takes precedence over serving your sentence for violence against women. It’s absolutely the wrong message,” Dauber said.

Smith was back in court on Tuesday for missing several of his domestic violence sessions. Perksy is in another courtroom now, so a new judge decided Smith must now attend weekend jail.

“It’ll let Mr. Smith get the time done in a timely fashion,” Smith’s attorney Gary Goodman said. “It’ll make it easier for him, and then to start the domestic violence classes for the rehabilitation part of his sentence.”

Goodman also took issue with Dauber’s accusations that Smith received any type of preferential treatment as an athlete.

“Judge Persky has nothing to do with this. It was the charging body, the executive, that determined what sentence he was going to get,” Goodman said.

Dauber strongly disagreed, saying this is all about Persky and his record and that the bottom line is Persky has shown yet again, he is unfit for the bench.